


Hear My Wail

by Hapkido9061



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Abusive Relationships, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Angst, BaekYeol - Freeform, Baekhyun is the Victim, ChanBaek - Freeform, Chanyeol is Abusive, Domestic Violence, M/M, Two Shot, broken!baekyeol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-23
Packaged: 2019-07-16 07:52:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16081745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hapkido9061/pseuds/Hapkido9061
Summary: BaekHyun doesn't leave Chanyeol, he can't. Nevermind the punching and hair pulling and curses of his name. Chanyeol used to love him so maybe something's still there. But BaekHyun can't leave. He's just not strong enough.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm cross posting and editing stuff from my AFF account which I rarely use anymore to here, hope you like it :)
> 
> Additional Warnings for this, it does include domestic abuse and Chanyeol beating Baekhyun. Also, it has implied character death. I don't think any of it's too explicit, but please be careful.

BaekHyun stands by the edge of his and Chanyeol’s shared bedroom, not fully inside but not daring to step foot in the hallway. The wood was freezing beneath his bare feet. His lip is swollen, enough to give the illusion of a slight lisp whenever he tries to speak.  Dried blood coats the skin under one of his eyes that used to shine like the moon at anything and everything. Not so much anymore. The shiner around his eye had bust open and bled throughout the night. Tears stains streak it further down his face, creating trails of blood leading down.

The sound of bacon frying for breakfast drifts up from the kitchen. Grease popping and the heavy smell of burning meat fill BaekHyun’s senses until that’s all he can focus on. Out of the two, he was usually the one who cooked the meals because he actually knew how to. Chanyeol could be heard walking back and forth on the tiled floor.

He wants to throw up.

“Get down here whore! Set the table!” Chanyeol shouts from below. He of all people should know that BaekHyun’s unable to. Honestly, he probably is making him set it on purpose. BaekHyun stumbles down the stairs, careful not to bump his broken arm on anything. It hangs limp at his side like a toy that has been played with one too many times.

All the way, BaekHyun softly speaks to himself. Loud enough he can hear himself over his limping on the stairs. Quiet enough that the bastard can’t call him out on it. “Leave Baek. Leave. He’s not good to you. Leave Baek.” It’s the exact same thing he tells himself every day. And every day, he never follows through.

All of past years, he’s never left. Maybe because the abuse had never been this bad before now. Even when his family and old friends told him numerous times how toxic Chanyeol was. There never is any marching out of the door or aggressive screaming on his part. Not once has BaekHyun ever had the nerve to even try to leave in fear of Chanyeol’s reaction. This world wants war, and yet all it got was BaekHyun dying under the ruby sunset.

Loyal BaekHyun remains with Chanyeol.

“Took you long enough,” Chanyeol sneers once he hears BaekHyun get off the last stair. The older offers nothing back in return. “I made breakfast. The least you could do is be grateful and get here in time to help.” BaekHyun nods and apologizes with downturned eyes. “Well?”

BaekHyun scampers to the cupboard and pulls out a plate, a bowl, and a glass. Next was the silverware from the drawer below. He sets it in front of Chanyeol before heading back to his own seat. The older plays with a thread on his sweater as the sound of Chanyeol eating echoes loudly in the kitchen.

He ignores the fact that the breakfast was made for only Chanyeol and not at all for him to eat. He ignores the fact that he will end up eating cereal, again, like he does for most meals because that’s all he is able to scavenge without Chanyeol noticing. He ignores the fact that he still feels something for Chanyeol. He ignores the fact that it hurts.

Ever since Chanyeol had been laid off from his job in town last month, his sanity disappeared. Unlike when he was employeed, BaekHyun has no time to himself to escape from reality while the other was busy at work. He is home 24/7 now. So is BaekHyun on orders of Chanyeol unless ordered to get groceries or the like.

If BaekHyun really thinks about it, Chanyeol has never been textbook definition of ‘nice’, but now he is flat out cruel. Whenever BaekHyun does something out of place or wrong, he gets punished. Whether it is being beat up until he can’t so much as move a finger or something much worse in the bedroom, it is meant to hurt. And make a point.

BaekHyun still keeps in contact with his mother and father, with his sister and two brothers when allowed. But he never confesses how Chanyeol treats him on. His mother used to read him the Bible before and after church every Sunday and the one verse that stuck with him through all this time spoke of how nothing in the world shall get worse than it already is. Everything is meant to be. BaekHyun won’t be a fool. Why go against what he was taught when he was younger even if there is a nagging voice in his mind telling him to?

“Cheer up. Your hideous expression’s making me lose my appetite,” Chanyeol sneers across the table. He kicks the older’s leg under the table, most likely hard enough to leave a bruise. BaekHyun startles and jostles his broken arm against the wooden table. A hiss slips out of his closed lips at the sudden pain shooting up his arm.

“What it is?” BaekHyun asks, not knowing what he did wrong this time.

“Pay attention to me when I’m speaking, Baek,” Chanyeol snaps with annoyance. He spat out BaekHyun’s name like it was vile. “I bet you didn’t catch a single word I just said.”

“I caught some of it,” BaekHyun murmurs. That was a lie, he heard nothing. If Chanyeol catches him lying, the punishment would be awful. Maybe he was in a good mood this morning and would let it slide. Eaither way, BaekHyun avoids thinking about being punched again.

Chanyeol snorts at the weak answer. “As I was saying, and listen this time. I don’t like repeating myself. We…”

BaekHyun would never leave Chanyeol. Not now; not ever. Through all of the insults and beatings and harsh words, there existed a terrifying man. There was no ‘front’ hiding a softer man underneath; no, Chanyeol was horrible through and through. BaekHyun wouldn’t leave because of that fear. If he walks out that door, Chanyeol’s truck would be gunning for him before he had the chance to even cross the river.

BaekHyun has thought of it, or course, but he would get caught and given the “Why’d you leave? What for?”. His parents would somehow find out, he knew, and all they would responded with would be a shake of the head and “You should’ve listened. You had a heart where you should’ve had a brain. Tragic.”

And so loyal BaekHyun remains with Chanyeol.

. . .

Chanyeol is shouting again. The screams BaekHyun responds with are nothing more than sighs with his battered breath, proof of exhaustion from holding out. Chanyeol’s growling as he tightens his grip on BaekHyun’s upper arm. The flow of blood to the rest of his arm is cut off and BaekHyun can feel it falling asleep by the second. As the door slams open against the wall, the older feels his bare feet slipping on the wooden floor in a futile attempt to escape. If he can just break free from the hand, he is sure to make to the front porch at least.

Under his breath, BaekHyun whimpers to himself. “Leave Baek. Leave. He’s not good to you. Leave Baek.”

But he doesn’t- not like BaekHyun could in the first place. No matter what happens in the world, Chanyeol will never let him go. Even if something disastrous were to occur, Chanyeol never died. The older has seen the bullet scars from where he has been shot by others before. Maybe Chanyeol never died just so he could toy with BaekHyun. He is stuck with a fate worse than death.

Spring turns to summer and summer only turns hotter than hell. And nothing changes. Months of living under such conditions turns BaekHyun from a layman to a master logician of avoiding Chanyeol. Without learning tricks, BaekHyun would have been dead by now.

Tonight, the bastard is sleeping like a widow-maker in the forest. Nothing to disturb him but himself. His snores fill the tiny bedroom and he doesn’t so much as stir when BaekHyun sneaks out of bed. The man creeps down into the kitchen and soundlessly noses around the counters until his hands run over the desired item. An inaudible cheer falls from his lips.

BaekHyun peeks back to the stairs as he clutches the kitchen clever to his chest. He creeps forward with careful steps. Not to make a sound, and not to cut his own skin. If he messes up now, this would never work. Luckily, the porch door slides open without a single noise. This is the first time BaekHyun can ever remember being consciously glad for well-oiled sliding doors.

Chanyeol’s roped up German Shepard notices BaekHyun approaching and cracks open her eyes. Gaje’s tail wags on the muddy ground, her tongue licking at BaekHyun’s hand when he pets her furry ears. At least she was friendly, unlike Chanyeol who won’t even let BaekHyun touch Gaje in case she becomes ‘infected’ with whatever made up disease he has.

All it takes is a second, a moment. BaekHyun brings the kitchen clever down. It easily cuts the metal chain connecting Gaje’s collar to the outside of the dog house. He gently kicks the dog in the direction of the swampy woods north of the property and she takes off immediately. BaekHyun runs back inside and, hoping Chanyeol would actually react in the way BaekHyun was hoping, he begins to yell.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol, your dog’s gone! Gaje’s gotten out!”

BaekHyun has his chance now. With not a single back glance, BaekHyun runs out to the marsh in the opposite direction that Gaje went. All the while, he is screaming to himself. “Leave Baek. Leave. Chanyeol’s not good to you. Leave Baek.”

He has a life to live, sitting on the porch of a beach house on the Golden Coast; the ocean stretched out for forever in front and palm trees in back. BaekHyun would be content and happy and free to do as he pleases. The younger wouldn’t be a part of his life. But Chanyeol, he would never forget. Nor would he ever forgive should he see the bastard again.

As he is running, BaekHyun doesn’t feel any of the stings from rocks on his bare feet or the rips at his clothes from thorns or the scrapes along his arms after running into unseen trees. The adrenaline from escaping clouds his senses until BaekHyun is hopelessly drunk with excitement.

He finally escapes Chanyeol’s clutches.

The river. How could he forget that swimming would be a part of the escape? BaekHyun had forgotten how hard it was until now. He has been swimming across the muddy river for only the past few minutes and his lungs are already burning. Part of it may have been the swift current, making it all the more dangerous.

Nearing the edge of the swamp filled with overhanging willows and twisted beeches, BaekHyun prays this plan works. The moonlight that filters through the thick overhead foliage is hardly enough to see, but BaekHyun makes it work. All the blood inside his body is pounding, rushing back and forth in some combination of fear, exhaustion and exhilaration.

BaekHyun just has to hold out for a little more.

The bank of the rapids comes into sight and BaekHyun pushes his body to swim faster. His hands struggle to grasp anything other than the grainy sand to help pull himself onto the bank. Once he’s up, BaekHyun tries to stand but his legs give out. That’s okay, he thinks, I’m free. I’ll rest and listen to the cicadas and crickets. I’m finally free. That particular night, the bugs are impossible loud and BaekHyun enjoys their presence. A tinkling laugh leaves his lips. This is BaekHyun’s night to feel alive now- take five minutes and he would see the town he had long forgotten about.

Happiness has reached him at last.

 

 

 

 

Until BaekHyun feels a yank on his hair.

 

 

 

 

Until he feels a yank on the arm that was broken and never healed properly.

 

 

 

And, stricken, he stares at Chanyeol. The bastard who had beaten him to the edge of the river. The bastard who had chosen him over his dog of eleven years. The bastard who drove his truck like a madman through the mud to reach him. It was still running.

 

 

 

 

BaekHyun hadn’t escaped fast enough.


	2. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> TW: Everything from before and character death ahead, it's mentioned but happened in the past

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm cross posting and editing stuff from my AFF account which I rarely use anymore to here, hope you like it :)

Chanyeol lies alone in bed. The lights are off and no noise comes from anywhere. There isn’t a dog to bark at falling leaves or a husband curling into the furthest corner of the bed with soft sounds coming from his mouth. Sure, he is half-sad that BaekHyun is dead now, but doesn’t dwell on the feeling in his chest. The bastard hasn’t since BaekHyun died.

It was tragic- the late BaekHyun had drowned himself in the swift river outside of their property. It was in a wild despair that Chanyeol had no knowledge of. The police gave their condolences that night to him and nothing else. In a make believe trial, they labelled the death as suicide and arrested no one.

The police saw the lines on BaekHyun’s wrist when the body had been recovered. They looked more like self-inflicted scars than on places where Chanyeol tied the ropes too tight and it cut into BaekHyun’s skin. The smaller’s body had been malnourished. “Anorexia” they said. More reason to believe in suicide rather than an abusive husband not supplying food. Besides, both officers had wives waiting for them to come home for supper and couldn’t waste time on some rural boy dying in a river.

Chanyeol still hasn’t called BaekHyun’s parents to tell about his death. But they hadn’t called to check up on their son in over two months either.

In the end, no one so much as grieves BaekHyun’s death.

The sheets rustle as Chanyeol changes his position on the bed to face the door. He thinks he used to love BaekHyun. The feeling he used to feel whenever he saw the other’s smile or heard his laugh had to have been love. Right? But then things happened; Chanyeol never learned how to deal with stress during his childhood and teen years. Push simply came to shove.

A husband disposed of.

A death case closed. Simple as that.

Now, there is no body warmth seeping into Chanyeol’s shoulder from under the blankets. But for whatever reason, his mattress doesn’t feel any colder than before. It doesn’t even feel empty or too big.  He had heard of people experiencing that sort of sensation, but it hasn’t happened.

Rather than being cold, the room is hellish hot; the air is dank and heavy. It’s impossible to breathe in without coughing just a little. Strange for the chilly month of November.

Chanyeol’s body starts to shiver. His brain races a million miles an hour. Why would his body shiver in this kind of heat? Chanyeol’s mind is too busy with figuring out the weird reaction to notice the window cracking open a sliver. Nothing more than enough to fit a hand through. The fog from the marsh blows into the room and drops to the floor. Immediately, Chanyeol grabs the hunting rifle sitting by the nightstand and aims it towards the figure.

Whether it was someone knowing the truth or a simple thief, Chanyeol wouldn’t feel bad about covering up a death for a second time. Hell, even if it was a teenager looking for a warm place to stay the night Chanyeol wouldn’t show mercy.

But he doesn’t have to any of those things.

Because the figure is BaekHyun.

Chanyeol keeps his pride even though he can hear his heartbeat pulsing in his ears. It’s to the point that all he can hear is the low drum of blood. He’s terrified, but says nothing to show his fear. This is no dream. Chanyeol starts shouting at the form of his dead husband.

“Leave BaekHyun! Hell sent you back here for more!” Chanyeol advanced forward to BaekHyun. Neither backed down. “They didn’t need to torture you ‘cause no one loved you up here. That was torture enough.”

BaekHyun laughs incredulously at Chanyeol. “You think I’m here for that? Oh no. I’m here for you.”

The shorter of the two walks forward until he was close enough to smell Chanyeol’s soap. BaekHyun appeared to grow larger until his presence was so powerful, Chanyeol kneeled. He was now eye to eye with his former husband. “True, you made this hell for me. And so I’ve come to settle a score.”

He grips Chanyeol’s face and points his face down to his feet. Heavy black chains bound around his ankles led the way back down to hell. But BaekHyun has no fear of the man in front of him. Nothing he says or does can ever harm BaekHyun. Never again.

And so loyal BaekHyun remains with Chanyeol.

He remains.

And he remains.

. . .

Chanyeol’s howling out again.

The screams BaekHyun responds with are more than just sighs with his battered breath, no longer exhausted from holding out. If anything, BaekHyun’s full of vigor and energy. That’s what hell has done to him- for him.

Chanyeol’s voice grates against the peaceful silence. He tightens his grip on BaekHyun’s upper arm, begging for release. The tall man’s trying his best to remain upright on the rough ground, but BaekHyun knocks him back down for the nth time. Blood flows down to his chin from his busted eye. His vision his blurry.

Chanyeol is stuck with a fate worse than death.

BaekHyun cries his miserable sounding wail, the one that Chanyeol knows much too well. It sounds different than before; it’s not so hollow sounding. But now, the cries aren’t directed at him and the pain he causes to his husband.

No, now none of the bastards living on Earth can ever sleep again.

Without any mercy, BaekHyun crawls up from the depths of hell and drags down the souls of men who only do wrong back with him to hell. The only one he has ever reprieved is Chanyeol. Chanyeol wishes he hadn’t. Dealing with the devil himself would have been a less painful sentence for the afterlife. Warnings shouted from Chanyeol up to the cruelest men still alive do no good- they never listen. Or maybe, they just never hear his voice.

And yet, Chanyeol tries. Again and again, he tries.

But Chanyeol knows their minds- he was one of the bastards who hurt the one he loved. Chanyeol used to love BaekHyun. And God loves BaekHyun. That’s why he gave him a position next to the devil himself. To evict justice on the men who do wrong to their loves.

Praise be BaekHyun reigning in hell.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I don't in any way think that domestic abuse is acceptable. Please reach out if you are in any sort of situation that involves it. I just wanted to write this and work through some emotions.


End file.
